George Pal
1908 - 1980The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Arnold Leibovit
George Pal, Ray Bradbury
Among the legends of Hollywood, George Pal takes his place as a true visionary, an innovator and a showman who profoundly shaped the art of motion pictures. A peer of Walt Disney, Pal pioneered stop motion animation and went on to virtually invent the modern science fiction and fantasy film genres. Pal's extraordinary genius molded a dazzling array of films, which earned an incredible total of eight Academy Awards and left a cinematic legacy that served as formative inspiration for the movies of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Gene Roddenberry.
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
A Hatful of Dreams
George Pal
George Pal’s stop motion Puppetoons were peopled with all types of characters. Two of his most popular were a pair of lovestruck kids named Punchy and Judy. Here, down-on-his-luck Punchy obtains a magical straw hat from a plucky talking horse and transforms himself into Aladdin and, with the official permission of DC Comics, Superman. Hoping to impress Judy, Punchy’s delusions of grandeur only land him in jail. The talking horse is a witness at Punchy’s trial and cajoles the judge, arresting Officer Moriarty and members of the jury to test the hat, causing their secret selves to emerge inbound, a hilarious spectacle as their unfettered dreams and desire hold sway.
A Hatful of Dreams
Rhapsody in Wood
George Pal
Woody Herman
Woody Herman spins a fairy tale about how his Woodchopper Grandpappy Herman chopped the wood necessary to form the clarinet Woody inherited and uses. Grandpappy formed it and put out magical enchanting sounds like the Pied Piper.
Rhapsody in Wood
The War of the Worlds
Byron Haskin
Gene Barry, Ann Robinson
The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills, until they discover it is the first of many transport devices from Mars bringing an army of invaders invincible to any man-made weapon, even the atomic bomb.
The War of the Worlds
Tubby the Tuba
George Pal
Victor Jory
In this Puppetoon animated short film (an Academy Award Best Short Subject, Cartoons nominee), Tubby the Tuba is disappointed that his sound limits what he's permitted to do in an orchestra of self-playing instruments that, unlike him, get to play pretty melodies. A chance meeting with a bullfrog changes everything.
Tubby the Tuba